It has been a while since I gave an update so here it is. This is probably the last post for this blog but I will be starting a new one that I will share.
So the boat was in the shop from March until sometime in May. The original engine gave the shop fits. They installed it and the starter wouldn't work so they had to pull the engine to fix that. Once they got it all working the clearance between the valves and pistons wasn't correct and a valve hit a piston. Engine had to be scrapped and had to pay for a 2nd engine.
Finally got the boat back and the ignition wasn't wired up. However, the boat wouldn't start after hours of messing with it so it went back to the shop. Needed another starter.
Got it back again and it was leaking oil from one of the valve covers so I had to fix that and wire up the ignition. And wire up the trim pump.
Took the boat out and ran it at the lake... everything was working fine. Got to the dock and the engine stalled. Wouldn't start in neutral so I put it in reverse to start it... POP! Throttle and shifter worked fine but the drive wouldn't do anything.
Got towed in and found that the gimbal ring snapped in half and the bell housing broke.
I bought second hand parts to fix it but my wife and I decided to stop sinking money into this project. So all that work and the boat is getting parted out!
We were concerned that there were chronic issues and the boat might be unsafe. We even found some holes in the side of the fiberglass that look like someone shot it with a BB gun or something. I also found some wiring the previous owner did behind the fridge that didn't look safe or correct.
I found that my biggest mistake was continuing forward at the advice of others. Everyone kept saying spend the money and get it going but there was just too many things wrong. I was going to have to replace almost every piece of that boat to make it usable and there are still concerns in my mind if that hull was sound or not finding small holes in it, etc.
